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While walking around Amsterdam, you might think to yourself what a visually appealing city we actually live in: the quaint canals, the small facades of the houses, and of course (most of) its residents! The coming few days however, our city will be colored black and yellow, which simply means that the Amsterdam Dance Event is here again!

We all know Absolut from enhancing our nights out – or potentially the looks of the city’s residents. You might even know them from their Absolut Nights in New York and Berlin, but they’ve definitely outdone themselves this time. Not only have they booked artists such as Four Tet, Pantha Du Prince, Floating Points and Applescal x Hessel Stuut for the evening program, but they’re also hosting the Absolut BeamLab Bar, a new podium for visual art.

Visual creativity explored

As the official sponsor of ADE Absolut wants to create a podium for visual artists to push the boundaries of creative nightlife. When you think of visuals one of the first names that pops into your mind is Heleen Blanken, who’s well known for her visual nightlife arts. She’ll be interviewed by the moderator of the day, while other visual artists from around the world will host ‘lightning talks’ – short presentations between five and ten minutes long.

One of the professionals hosting a lightning talk is Cape Town-based Daniel Popper, a creative who specializes in interactive pieces, art and architecture in public spaces. Most recently he has been working on merging sculpture with electronic music, LED and projection mapping. An example of his work is his mind-boggling piece Reflections, a giant wooden man with outstretched arm that he created for AfrikaBurn in 2013.

Justin Bolognino, founder and CEO of META.is, will moderate the day. META.is is one of the world’s leading visual labels that create multisensory visual experiences for events, brand activations and permanent installations that ignite the human spirit with story, technology and design. They’ll be sure to tingle all of your senses! Amsterdam-based studio Boompje & DEFRAME are also set to host a lightning talk this night. Not sure what to expect? Check out last year’s after movie:

All in all, enough to look forward to. The BeamLab Bar is open to everyone interested in the world of creative visual performances, so come on over, have a drink and get inspired!